This article is about stroke order, i.e., the order in which the strokes of Chinese characters are written. Once the Chinese writing system had fully developed, the principles of stroke order were established gradually for the purpose of writing faster. The formation of such principles is directly related to the complexity of Chinese characters (how to go about writing them), but it also underscores the significance that was attached to writing properly, even in ancient China. Commenting on the candidates of the examination system of the Qín and Hàn dynasties, the preface to the Shuōwén …